Claims the argumentation or argumentation and debate course in American colleges and universities would be bolstered by a dual focus on possibilities for argumentation. Suggests a unit on negotiation would provide students with instruction and activities of clear potential benefit for public-sphere deliberation and professional development. (NH)

Argues role-play simulation (1) delivers valuable opportunities for learning about the dynamics of public argument; (2) provides substantial opportunities for graded assessment; and (3) frees students to conceive of important alternative modes of deliberation. (NH)

Notes that communication across the curriculum programs (CXCPs) are designed to increase students' communication competence and enhance student learning. Examines the challenge of maintaining the integrity of multiple disciplines when communication gets taken across the curriculum. Concludes with suggestions for future program directions and…

Discusses the following: barriers to geriatrics education, teaching strategies (such as communication with patients, acceptance of one's own aging, interdisciplinary teamwork), and curriculum design for undergraduate and graduate study. (Contains 26 references.) (SK)

Outgoing "Voices from the Middle" ("VM") editor and incoming Vice-President Kylene Beers remembers the origins of the National Council of Teahers of English (NCTE), the long struggle to establish the best curriculum and assessment practices possible, and the frustration with the current emphasis on teaching to the test. Leaders…

Competency-based instruction can be applied to a military setting, an academic program, or a corporate environment with a focus on producing performance-based learning outcomes. In this article, the authors provide theoretical and practical information about underlying characteristics of competencies and explain how the Department of Instructional…

The goal of this article is to advance an ecological theory of knowing, one that prioritizes engaged participation over knowledge acquisition. To this end, the authors begin by describing the environment in terms of "affordance networks": functionally bound potentials extended in time that can be acted upon to realize particular goals. Although…

Engineers have a set of powerful tools at their disposal for designing robust and reliable technical systems. In educational design these tools are seldom applied. This paper explores the application of concepts from the systems approach in an educational context. The paradigms of design methodology and systems engineering appear to be suitable…

A suburban Detroit consortium of superintendents created a leadership academy for teachers to learn the value of their own knowledge and improve their skills. The Galileo Leadership project challenges established beliefs and helps teachers engage collaboratively in the work of active leadership. From mini-retreats to active research, teachers…

"Best Practices in Gifted Education" provides concise, up-to-date, research-based advice to educators, administrators, and parents of gifted and talented youth. The 29 practices included in this volume are the result of an extensive examination of educational research on what works with talented youth. The interest in culturally diverse and…

In this article, we have analysed whether graduates from activating learning environments assess themselves as having more generic and reflective competences than graduates who studied in conventional learning environments. We have also investigated whether graduates from different learning environments look back differently on their training for…

Business and accounting curriculums are designed to educate and train future business professionals and leaders. When Congress passed SOX in 2002, it dramatically impacted the responsibilities of corporate executives and CPAs and consequently required corresponding changes in the business schools prepare students to assume these roles. Because the…

This article discusses a systematic approach to designing significant learning experiences, often referred to as the "backward design process," which has been popularized by Wiggins and McTighe (1998) and is included as a central feature of L. Dee Fink's model for integrated course design (Fink, 2003). The process is referred to as backward…

The purpose of this study was to find critical features of engineering design that can be incorporated within technology education learning activities, and develop a rubric for assessing these features. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with three professors actively involved in engineering education. Supporting documents such…

Maxine Greene states that the aesthetic experience is "brought into being by encounters with works of art" and "a conscious participation in a work, a going-out energy, an ability to notice what is there to be noticed". One of the goals of the aesthetic educational process is to engage teachers in a work of art, linking it and other human…